


Not Alone

by LadyStrangeandUnusual (Dream_Wreaver)



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Musicalbabes, POTO References, Swearing, Yes Including the Title, beetlebabes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dream_Wreaver/pseuds/LadyStrangeandUnusual
Summary: When Lydia's back is to the wall, when she sees just how desperate Beetlejuice is, it is not rage that she feels. But what does she feel instead?
Relationships: Beetlejuice/Lydia Deetz
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	Not Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImpossibleKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpossibleKat/gifts), [artysmartypigfarty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artysmartypigfarty/gifts).



> Heyo! Been a bit, I know. I've been busy with other fandoms trying to keep myself from burning out creatively. This fic is dedicated to two of my friends for inspiring and helping me with this. Kat, Danni, I love yall so much! Hope you enjoy!

She’d never expected him to take her dismissal so poorly. Tricking her into exorcising the one mother figure she’d been able to find in this dark time in her life. And yet, despite her anger at him, despite how much she hated him in this moment, other memories came unbidden to her mind. Off hand remarks about being unwanted and invisible. Abandoned, forgotten. And through the midst of her ire she felt something else on the rise, a sort of hollow pain in her chest, pain that hurt her, but mutely. And she wondered; what kind of… well life wasn’t precisely an apt word for it, but it was all she had. And truly, what kind of life, what kind of facsimile of existence had this creature known? Surely, not one she could ever hope to even _begin_ to understand. And for perhaps the first time in her life, Lydia was able to put aside the grief over losing her mother, and recognize something within herself. Something that he awoke. Pity, she pitied him. But then, he was pitiful. Pitiful creature, of darkness and death. The saddest people of all were those who hid behind smiles.

She felt… bad. Not that this was any way for him to behave, but she felt for his sorry lot in unlife. If he could be believed, he had spent most of his entire existence, unloved, ignored, invisible. It had been no wonder he'd been so ecstatic when she, a living breathing girl, had been able to see him. How long had it been? How long preying upon hapless newlydeads all for the slight chance someone would say his name, set him free? And here she'd been, completely absorbed with regaining that same feeling he had constantly sought. Had he _ever_ felt seen until he met her? People either couldn’t or when they could they avoided him because he just came on too strong. Well, among other things she supposed. He wanted to be noticed, seen, adored. He was a showman with no idea of who his audience was and yet he refused to compromise the core of his being to pander to normies for more than was needed to hook them in. And arguably he couldn’t even do _that \_.

So as she stood there, with Barbara writhing in pain as she bore the exorcism scorching across her dead skin, Lydia could only watch him. Watch as he got down on one knee and gave her his ultimatum. Save Barbara, or save herself. Marry him, or let a poor woman die, again. Part of her recoiled at having to make the choice at all. Beetlejuice should never have put her into this position, and worse still she still didn’t really understand why he was doing it to begin with. He was an asshole to be sure but he didn’t fuck up people’s lives for no reason. He said he was tired of being alone, that life was the only way out. But was it? Had he been alone with her? Lydia didn’t know anymore. All she really knew was that this man, this… this monster, _her_ monster, was hurting. And because he was hurting, he was trying to hurt her in response. She felt simultaneously present and removed from the whole situation, watching it happen in real time from outside herself. But the decision was ultimately hers. Dead Mom please help her, what could she do?

Lydia knew she had no choice, she had to do it. She had to marry him, for Barbara’s sake if no one else’s. But first, she needed to show him how wrong he was, that he wasn’t alone. Dead Mom, give her the strength, and forgive her for wanting her back so badly she had hurt everyone else. That hollow pain in her chest gave rise to something so powerful, empathy. She felt his pain as if it were her own, and her heart broke for him. This poor, poor monster, all alone without a friend in the world. Until her. And now, now he felt alone, all over again. Well, she would agree to marry him, to save Barbara, and to save him from loneliness. But first, she aimed to show him that he was not truly alone. Face blank as she slowly, almost trancelike, walked towards him. He was there, on bended knee, waiting with baited breath for her answer. They all were. Lydia met his eyes, so full of anger and hatred, and beneath that the pain, the fear, the sadness. For someone who apparently didn’t have feelings, they shone so brightly from within his eyes. Lydia opened her mouth to speak, to give him her answer, to save Barbara. But the words refused to come, as if some great hand had reached within her chest and was squeezing at her heart and her lungs, leaving her unable to say a word.

So she merely looked at him, mouth dropped open silently, opening and closing a couple times as she tried and failed to say something, _anything_. But when that failed her, she simply shook her head sadly at him. They were close enough that only he could hear her as she whispered to herself,

“Dead mom, give me the courage to show you, you are _not_ alone,”

Then she cupped his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. Lydia felt him stiffen beneath her, a pretty amazing feat considering he was already dead and suffered from a bit of rigor mortis at all times. His lips were surprisingly soft, as was the beard, and the moss in said beard. Though her eyes were closed, she could feel his boring into her. Wide in shock, in surprise, like he never thought she would do something like that. After a beat or two she let him go, hugging him instead, laying her head on his shoulder. Her heart was pounding in her chest, drowning out the sound of all else around them. For all she knew there was nothing, no one, just her and him. Lydia and Beetlejuice, the girl and the monster. Slowly, slowly, she felt the stiff arms haltingly draw closer to her, one of them robotically patting her on the back. When Lydia pulled back to look at him, staring in his eyes once more she saw that something had changed. Gone was the rage, than anger, even the perversion, all that was left was something she couldn’t name because he likely couldn’t. Lydia doubted Beetlejuice even knew what he was feeling now. Perhaps he felt what she had meant to convey the whole time; that he was not alone, that she saw him, the same way he had seen her when no one else had.

His filthy hand came to cup her own cheek. But it wasn’t the sort of rough, forceful manner the Maitlands had said he used on them. Rather, it as though she were a fragile, breakable thing in his hands. Something he didn’t _want_ to destroy. A thumb, overgrown and ragged, tipped with black nails and stained the color of faded blood, swept over her cheekbone. With a snap of his other fingers she felt the pain in the room dissipate, Barbara was free. Lydia’s hands were curled over Beetlejuice’s shoulders, and even as she could feel her parental figures wanted to intervene they didn’t dare. Not now. Not when he had been kind, or hopefully foolish, enough to let go of his leverage. He couldn’t force Lydia to marry him any longer, though perhaps that kiss had been her consent. Which was the scarier of the two.

Lydia’s flitted to the side, unable to resist checking to see if Barbara was okay. When a quick glance revealed she was more or less intact, her eyes returned to her demon’s. Her devious, demented monster. His eyes searched hers for a long moment, longer than she honestly expected him too. She’d given her answer, she agreed to marry him in exchange for Barbara’s freedom, but she had also showed him he was not alone. So what now? He tugged her closer and they shared another kiss. Just as chaste as her own had been, just as -dare she say it?- _gentle_ , a word she would have never associated with him. Though she’d only known him for three days, delicate was not in the slightest a word she would have ascribed to the man before her. But that was what his kiss felt like now. And dare she say it as well as she closed her eyes and let him kiss her, she felt precious she felt… she felt _loved_.

Ever so slowly, Beetlejuice broke the kiss, pulling back though unable it seemed to stop touching her. And Lydia felt slightly disappointed, inclining her head forward a bit to try and keep it going. Which, later on that evening she would probably berate herself for. How could she want to kiss the man who had threatened the existences of those she loved? But for now, all she could do was stare. Slowly, Beetlejuice rose to his feel, her arms stretching as they remained on his shoulders. It was easy to forget when having fun just how little but how substantial the height difference between them was. Lydia looked up at him, wondering what they would do now. She’d given her answer, shouldn’t they be getting married right about now? Or did she have things confused?

“Welp,” Beetlejuice heaved a sigh, “Guess I’d better get goin’,”

“But I thought-” Lydia began, only to be drowned out by the sounds of all the other adults in the room scrambling to keep her from being heard and getting the striped menace out of the house.

“SHADDUP!” Beetlejuice hollered, instantly silencing everyone. He turned back to Lydia, “You were sayin’ babes?”

“I thought… you said I needed to-” Lydia found it hard to speak, hard to remind him of the deal _he’d_ offered her, the deal _she_ had taken, “What about your green card?” she finally managed to spit out.

“What about it?” Beetlejuice asked, “I’m dead Lydia, I got all the time in the world. ‘Sides,” he added, “If I’m gettin’ myself a ball and chain I’m goin’ out with a stag party so big it’ll break the Netherworld in half. But don’t you worry your pretty lil head about a thing, sugar,” he winked at her, “Deal’s a deal, and I’ll be back to collect.”

He took her left hand and pressed a kiss to her ring finger, and when he left it there was a beautifully macabre black engagement ring resting on her finger. A promise, a threat, and a reminder of the devil she’d willingly sold her soul to. Lydia’s fingers curled protectively as she brought her hand in close to her chest. Beetlejuice smirked at her, then victoriously strutted his way to the living room wall, where he pulled out a piece of chalk and drew a door. With three knocks, it opened revealing that eerie green light and mist that had threatened to take Adam just a short while earlier. With a wink, a grossly smug smirk, and a salute he bid them farewell and disappeared into the mist. Any thought Lydia had of following after him to try and escape, try and find her dead mom, was lost to the chaos and confusion his sudden departure without so much as a single fuss had elicited. Lydia looked around, the others just as dazed and confused as she was. And though none of them spoke the question on their minds was clear;

What now?

BJ BJ BJ

“You know,” Lydia began later that evening, “When you said you’d come back to collect, I didn’t think you meant you’d be back _tonight_ ,”

“What can I say babes?” Beetlejuice shrugged from his position inside her mirror, “I just can’t stay away, I’m hopelessly attracted to you,”

“Funny,” Lydia rolled her eyes at him, “Then what was the whole deal with letting me off the hook back then?”

“Don’t make me be honest babes,” Beetlejuice parried, “It’ll make me vomit,”

“Then make up a lie,”

“Alright, I decided to wait because I wanted you to grow up a little more,”

“What?”

“Read my lips Lydia,” Beetlejuice leaned through the looking glass, “I wanted your tits to grow bigger,”

“Hate to disappoint you there bugbreath but balloon boobs don’t run in my family, so what you see now is basically what you’re getting no matter what time you come back.”

“You know they say you can make ‘em grow by touchin’ ‘em a lot,”

“I’m not playing with my boobs and neither are you,” Lydia shot that idea down immediately, “Now how about something that isn’t completely stupid?”

Beetlejuice grumbled to himself a bit, folding his arms and glaring at her, “I was returning the favor okay?”

“Returning the favor?” now it was Lydia’s turn to fold her arms at him, “Bullshit,”

“I mean it,” Beetlejuice held up his hands placatingly, “You… you showed me I wasn’t alone. You were willing to give up your life to save Bab’s afterlife. You… you would tie yourself to me to save someone you loved. And I’m a fuckin’ pansy for lettin’ it get to me but,” he huffed, “I just couldn’t make ya marry me after that.”

“But we’re still engaged,” Lydia pointed out.

“Nah,” Beetlejuice waved a hand, and the ring on her finger disappeared, “I just said that to piss off yer parents,”

“Put that back,” Lydia told him, voice as cold as ice. She didn’t know why, but losing that ring was making her very mad. Potentially as was the revelation that he now had no intention of marrying her, green card or no.

“What?”

“Put that goddamn ring back this instant Beetlejuice or so help me God-”

“Alright, alright, sheesh,” with a snap the ring was back on her finger and Lydia heaved a sigh of relief, “You women and your jewelry,”

“Shut up,” Lydia retorted without any malice, “But if you were backing out of the deal then… I guess I don’t understand why you did.”

“I toldja,” Beetlejuice shrugged, “You showed me I wasn’t alone, without gettin’ hitched in the first place. Guess I didn’t see the point in bein’ alive if I knew I had someone even when I was dead.”

“Well…” Lydia knew she should feel relieved. Barbara was safe, and she was off the hook in terms of keeping her end of the deal. She had gotten the better bargain for sure, and yet something about it nagged at her. Like it was too good to be true. And knowing Beetlejuice, it very well could be. But more than that, it was the principle of the thing. Her dad, if he had taught her anything, had taught her to always keep her bargains. You couldn’t get something for nothing, and she refused to now.

“Shit,” she sighed, running a hand through her hair. How to approach this? She couldn’t flat out say she wanted to marry him now that he’d said their deal was null and void. But then something occurred to her, there was still something she could ask for. Something she could exchange her hand for, “How about a new deal then?”

Beetlejuice raised a brow at her, amused but intrigued, “New deal?” he hummed thoughtfully, “And what exactly do you think I want?”

“Your green card of course,” Lydia reminded him, “Help me, and I’ll marry you; no blackmail, no threats of exorcism, no parental units hanging in the balance, no questions asked.”

Beetlejuice hummed again, “And if I were to agree,” he began, “And I’m not saying I am, but if I were, what do you want me to do?”

“I need your help with something,” Lydia replied vaguely, “But I’m not telling you unless you agree.”

“I’d be a fool to make a deal where I don’t know what my end is babes,” Beetlejuice told her.

“Fine then,” Lydia folded her arms and turned away from him, “Enjoy being on the other side of that mirror then,” she took a deep breath, hoping against hope that if she said his name while he was like this, in this half-limbo state, she could banish him for good. Or at least until she was certain he was ready to reconsider, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Be-”

“Alright alright!” Beetlejuice interrupted her, “You drive a hard bargain babes,” he sighed, “But fine, so long as you keep your end and get me out, fer good. Deal?”

She saw his arm outstretched, hand extended. And for a moment, part of her wondered if this was really such a good idea. She’d made one deal with the devil and had thankfully escaped unscathed through human compassion. But here she was, about to do it all over again. And yet, the other part of her knew that unless she did this, unless she traded her future away she would never be able to truly bury her past. She needed closure, and he was the only way to get it. So, with a deep breath, Lydia reached out her own hand and took his. 

“Deal,”

The lights flickered for a moment, coupled with a flash of lightning outside and a clap of thunder. But there was no storm brewing in Winter River now. And it truly hit home that she had just made a deal she wouldn’t be able to get out of. Too late to turn back now, a fact made evident by the way Beetlejuice pulled himself out of the mirror and hopped into her room; cracking his vertebrae and rolling his shoulder. A routine she’d seen him do before, that he called “turning on the juice”. He was ready to wreak some havoc, that was for sure.

“Alright then babes,” he said as he cracked his knuckles, “Whaddya need me to do,”

Deep breaths Lydia, deep breaths. He wasn’t going to like it, she knew because this had been what had caused today’s earlier issue in the first place. But she had him by the balls now, a deal was a deal.

“I need you to take me to the Netherworld,” Lydia began, feeling her heart ready to pound out of her chest once more; this time with anticipation, “And help me find my mom.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought. Thank you so much for reading and if I don't see you again Netherlings, Happy Halloween!


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